Testimonial Tuesday: Hudson's National Guard Militia

I recently completed the Arcadia book "Hudson's National Guard Militia" with Bill Verdone as the principal author. He spent a lot of time and effort gathering together the pictures and history of the unit that he once served as their commander, and was very excited to work with me converting that collection into an Arcadia book. About 2 weeks ago, the first issue of that book finally arrived and made it into his hands, and he was one very happy fellow. Since the unit at the National Guard in Hudson had just come back from a tour in Iraq, Bill and I wanted to give a free copy to each of the 75 members of that unit in appreciation of their work protecting us. With donations from a local bank, several patriotic members of the Hudson Historical Society, and a reduction in price from Arcadia, we were able to make a presentation of the books to the company commander at the Society's monthly meeting a few days ago. Unfortunately, Bill Verdone was not present as he died 2 days before (he had been suffering from emphysema for several years). But he finished his life's work in style, and his pleasure in producing the book as one of his last projects was very evident in the mile-long smile on his face when he first held his book in his hands. I thank Arcadia and yourself and Dawn for helping make that joy on Bill's face possible.